


After Zoom

by Katkee



Series: Season 2 Alternate Endings [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Jason Woodrew | Plant Master | Floronic Man, Reaction, Wally West Origin Story, alternate season end, immediately following episode, new meta, post-Versus Zoom, rescuing Caitlin, spoilers for 2.18, spoilers for Versus Zoom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6604303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katkee/pseuds/Katkee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a certain silence that falls over the Cortex whenever tragedy strikes.<br/>And, after the events of Versus Zoom, tragedy has absolutely struck.</p>
<p>The reactions of Barry, Cisco, Wells, and Iris after the end of Ep 2.18, continuing into an alternate season ending that also involves Joe, Wally, Zoom, and a couple of surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There’s a certain silence that falls over the Cortex whenever tragedy strikes.

When Barry comes back from a new metahuman attack having failed to capture him or her. When one of the crew goes missing because of some new threat. When they’re faced with an awful betrayal that they can’t reconcile.

Right now, that silence is there.

None of them want to leave. None of them feel that they can.

No, that’s not quite true—Joe goes to talk to Wally, though he can’t imagine what he’s going to say. None of them can imagine what to say.

So Barry, Cisco, Wells, and Iris drift aimlessly around S.T.A.R. Labs. None of them speak. None of them have a plan.

* * *

 

Barry tries to get used to not having speed. It’s been a part of his life for two years. He can’t even remember what it was like before the particle accelerator exploded.

Now he’s experiencing it again. He hadn’t realized how much he uses his speed—just for silly things that he hasn’t had to do at a regular pace for years. Tying his shoes. Brushing his hair.

He’s human again.

And he doesn't know how to do anything.

* * *

 

Cisco wears his new glasses and touches everything of Caitlin’s that he can find. He gets glimpses—

_Flashes of blue lightning and a blur of black rushing past him._

_Caitlin’s screams and another moment of black streaking by._

_Somewhere dark and cold, not enough light to discern where or even when._

None of them help. He can’t find her. Not until Zoom stops running, at least.

And judging by Jay’s face when he injected himself with Barry’s speed, he’s far too high on speed force to slow down.

There’s nothing Cisco can do.

* * *

 

Wells isolates himself in Cisco’s laboratory. He scribbles meaningless equations on the board for a few minutes and then stops, caps the marker, and throws it to the ground. He walks calmly over to the desk.

Then he sweeps his arm across it and hundreds of metal and plastic bits clatter to the ground, the noise unbearably loud in the silence.

Wells sinks into a chair and puts his head in his hands.

He blames himself.

He knows it’s not his fault.

He blames himself regardless.

No matter how they’ve all treated him since he arrived, no matter how little they listen to him on matters that he _clearly_ knows more about, no matter what else happens, he can’t deny that he cares.

A few short hours ago, he would have guaranteed that he couldn’t feel any more pain at the loss of someone he cared about, and, yes, even loved. With Jesse who-knows-where, he would have sworn that he didn’t have the emotion to spare.

And now?

Wells is astonished at how completely the pain consumes him.

* * *

 

Iris wanders around the lab. She touches nothing. She feels like she should approach Barry, talk to him, but what would she say?

She has no advice to offer him.

Previously, whenever he fell down, she was the one to pick him back up again. Sometimes, her simply _talking_ to him was enough for him to regain confidence in himself and his speed.

But with his speed actually gone, in the hands—in the body—of this monster, there is nothing Iris can say that can help him get faster.

And she doesn’t have any metahuman abilities or scientific knowledge. She’s sure that, within a few hours, Cisco or Wells or more likely both will have brilliant ideas that will save Caitlin.

Whereas Iris can do nothing to help.

She’s not sure why she stays.

But she knows she can’t bear to go home.

* * *

 

All of them ought to be used to the quiet that follows tragedy by now.

But the utter stillness that’s infiltrated the Cortex corrodes anything resembling hope to dust.

All four want to say that they have a plan. They wait for someone to have that spark of brilliance that always, always comes when one of them is in danger.

And yes, maybe it will come.

But right now, Hunter Zolomon, aka Jay Garrick, aka Zoom, has Barry’s speed and Caitlin Snow and every advantage in this or any other world.

Nobody has a plan.

So instead, silence hangs, thick and heavy, over S.T.A.R. Labs.


	2. Chapter 2

The silence always breaks eventually, spurred on by a police alert or a visitor or, more rarely, a breakthrough.

Today, the breaking point is Joe’s return.

With Wally.

All four drift back into the Cortex. Barry doesn’t bother concealing his face. He’s not the Flash anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Joe says. “But he figured it out, and he deserves to know.”

“Yeah,” Barry says. His voice is lower and rougher than he expected, and he clears his throat and tries again. “Yeah, you should know.” He gestures around him. “Welcome to S.T.A.R. Labs, I guess.”

“So you’re the Flash?” Wally asks, a little hesitant.

Barry nods. “I used to be.” He lifts his hands helplessly. “I don’t have my speed anymore.”

“And there are alternate universes?”

Wells gets impatient. “Yes, there are alternate universes. Zoom is from Earth-2, the same place I’m from, and Allen had the brilliant idea to reopen a breach and let Zoom through. That’s why you were kidnapped, that’s why Allen lost his speed, and that’s why the _serial killer_ Hunter Zolomon has Snow right now.”

“Hey,” Barry says, seeing how overwhelmed Wally is. “It’s going to be fine. We’ll figure something out. We always do.” He looks at Cisco. “Have you been able to vibe anything?”

Cisco has his arms crossed and is staring vaguely into space. He jolts to attention when Barry addresses him. “Um, not really. I’ve gotten vague glimpses of him running. That’s all. Not enough to locate him.”

“Not that we could get to his location anyway without the Flash,” Wells adds.

“Hey, I’m sure we can solve this problem,” Iris says. “We’ve gotten through everything else so far. We beat Jay once.”

“That was before we gave him Barry’s speed,” Wells mutters.

Wally, who’s been glancing around at all four of them, says, “Wait. There’s Zoom, there’s Hunter Zolomon, there’s Jay. Who are all these people?”

Joe puts a hand on Wally’s shoulder. “You might want to sit down. It’s a lot to take in.”

Obediently, Wally sinks into a chair.

Over the course of a few minutes, Barry, Cisco, and Wells explain. Everything from Eobard Thawne to the singularity to Zoom. All of it in far more detail than Wally really needs.

But it’s therapeutic for them. Some sort of release. And, who knows, maybe talking through the past will help spark a plan for the future.

As they explain, Barry finds that he can’t keep his voice from shaking—and not the type of vibration that disguises his identity from others.

Cisco keeps glancing at Jay’s hat on the floor across the room and then looking away with a glare.

Whenever Wells speaks, which isn’t often, he does so in a clipped, irritated tone—the only way he knows to hide other emotions.

Iris does her best to keep the mood light, but considering the subject, it’s not an easy task.

Joe lets the others explain, instead watching Wally for his reaction.

For his part, Wally remains calm during the summary of events. His eyes seem to grow wider with every word, but aside from that, he sits very still and doesn’t react.

Joe’s worried. He, of all people, knows how difficult it can be to accept this supernatural knowledge. Wally is so perfectly calm that it concerns him.

“Okay,” Wally finally says when they’re done. “So how are we going to get Caitlin back?”

Barry, Cisco, and Wells look at each other. All of them are exhausted by the recap of the past two years, the summary of everything they’ve gone through.

Though, to be honest, they have not just gone through it, not only survived it, but won.

Barry considers all the metahumans he’s defeated, up to and including the Reverse Flash, all the people he’s saved, all the lives he’s impacted despite being put at a disadvantage in the past.

Cisco plays with the glasses in his hands and thinks about all the new powers he has, just waiting for him to discover and use them.

Wells thinks back to their rescue of Jesse on Earth-2—regardless of where she now is, she’s far safer than she was in Zoom’s power—and if they broke someone out of Zolomon’s prison once, maybe it’s possible to do so again.

Joe and Iris exchange a glance. Both of them have spent enough time with the S.T.A.R. Labs team to understand what’s just happened.

The silence has broken, like the calm before a storm. The wait is over. Barry may have lost his lightning, but everyone can sense the shifting winds.

Here comes the storm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we go. This story was intended to be a one-shot, so it would fit nicely into canon no matter what happens next week, and then there was a Chapter Two. And now I have *ideas* and *plot* for the next few chapters, so screw canon. Not sure how long it'll end up being, but expect a chapter a day at least until Tuesday comes around.

When they start talking, they don’t stop.

Barry: “Can you try vibing Caitlin or Jay again, Cisco?”

Cisco: “Sure. But I don’t know how to even get the location from a vibe.”

Wells: “You should at least be able to tell from the vibrations which Earth they’re on.”

Joe: “He can do that?”

Cisco: “Yeah, I can do that?” He puts on the glasses.

Wells picks up Jay’s discarded helmet and tosses it at Cisco. “Just vibe it and see.”

Cisco catches the helmet. Everyone watches him for a long moment. Nothing happens.

“Give me the glasses,” Wells says. When Cisco does, he picks up a screwdriver from one of the worktables nearby and fiddles with the glasses for a moment. “Here, try again.” He hands them back.

“What did you do?” There might be half a note of suspicion in Cisco’s voice.

“I changed them back to the Earth-2 frequency. Put them on.” Wells speaks abruptly.

Cisco does so, still clinging to Jay’s helmet, and is immediately tossed into one of his trippy visions.

“He’s stopped,” Cisco says hazily. “They’re in the same place Jesse was kept.” He turns, the motion sending the dreamlike world spinning too fast around him. “It’s definitely Earth-2. I can see the man in the iron mask.”

“The man in the iron mask?” Wally inserts, confused. “Who is he?”

“We don’t know,” Barry says distractedly. “How’s Caitlin? Is she alive? Hurt?”

“She’s fine. She’s in a cell, but not chained up…” Cisco makes another quarter turn. “ _Holy_ —Zoom is here.”

“Can he sense you?” Wells demands instantly. “Get out of there, Ramon!”

“No—I don’t think so. I’m not… projecting at him like I was before. Hold on, Caitlin’s saying something.”

The sound is vacillating and warped, as voices always are in Cisco’s vibes, but he can sill make out her words.

“You might as well take off the mask, Jay.”

Cisco hasn’t heard Caitlin’s enraged tone in ages, and, even though it’s not directed at him and he isn’t even on the same Earth, he still flinches.

“I know who you are. And I know they’ll find me.”

Zoom—Jay—Hunter—whatever the heck he’s going by now—takes off the mask. His expression is infuriatingly smug.

“Even if they do find you—and I don’t doubt they will—there’s nothing they can do without the Flash’s speed. Cisco, if you’re vibing this right now, take note: I will kill all of you, and her, if you try to rescue her.”

Cisco, startled at being directly addressed, snaps out of the vision. Jay’s helmet clatters to the floor.

“What happened?” Iris asks immediately. “Is she still okay?”

Cisco rubs his face with his hands, trying to compose himself. “Yeah. Yeah, she’s fine, but Jay just promised that he’ll kill all of us if we try to save her.”

Barry nods resignedly, as though it’s no less than he expected. Wells laces his fingers behind his neck and walks in a slow circle, visibly frustrated.

Joe frowns, then says, “But she’s not in any immediate danger?”

Everyone looks at him with various expressions of shock and outrage.

“Dad!” Iris says.

“No, I don’t mean that we shouldn’t do everything possible to save her,” Joe adds quickly. “We’re going to rescue her. I’m just saying that it’s late.” He points to his watch, which shows that it’s almost one in the morning. “It’s been a very long day. All of us need to sleep. Maybe someone will have a breakthrough overnight. But standing here talking about it more isn’t going to help. It won’t save Caitlin. Let’s get some rest.”

All of them find his logic hard to disagree with—either because it’s flawless or because they’re simply too tired to refute it.

So they leave S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry, without thinking, runs a few steps toward home. He slows to a walk when he fails to run at his normal Flash speed and, with a sigh, joins Joe, Iris, and Wally in the car.

Nobody talks on the way home. Joe knows he needs to give everyone some time. Iris feels an intense pressure to speak, but the right words refuse to come to her. Wally, despite his outward calm, is internally still trying to process the impossible. Barry, on the other hand, does his best to accept the mundane.

The only noise in the car is the sound of the rain and thunder raging outside.

When they reach the house, Barry, Joe, and Iris go straight to bed. Wally can’t bring himself to do the same. He loves his new room, but returning to the place he was kidnapped? He might need a few minutes.

Instead, he sneaks out back, where his favorite—and fastest—car is parked. The one thing sure to comfort him is working on it, so, without thinking too much, gets to work, ignoring the storm around him.

He’s only been out there a few minutes when there’s a blindingly white flash, accompanied by an earsplittingly loud boom.

Lightning strikes the car. Electricity sparks across the metal surface.

The metal surface that Wally happens to be touching.

So the lightning rushes into him through his hands and leaves through his feet. Electricity crackles in his eyes—

And then everything goes black.


	4. Chapter 4

It’s so ironic Barry could almost laugh.

Two years ago, he’d been the one in a lightning-induced coma. Two years ago, he was brought to S.T.A.R. Labs.

Two years ago, his doctor was Caitlin Snow.

And now here he is caring for Wally West, who was struck by lightning last night and is now, you guessed it, in a coma, in a bed in S.T.A.R. Labs.

It’s horrifically perfect.

But for the fact that Caitlin is gone.

Joe and Iris sit next to him at the side of Wally’s bed. None of them can summon the energy to speak. Iris has visibly been crying, Joe is sullen and stares blankly into space, and Barry tries not to burst into hysterical laughter at how totally ridiculous this whole thing is.

Cisco returns, hands full, and passes out cups of Jitters coffee to all three of them. They take them. Don’t drink them.

“I’ll… run some tests.” Cisco plugs in his tablet to one of the machines attached to Wally, downloads the data he needs, unplugs it, and heads into his workroom.

Wells is there too. Neither of them wants to leave S.T.A.R. Labs when Wally is in such a critical condition, but neither of them wants to interrupt a grieving family.

“How is he?” Wells asks, starting to rise from his chair.

Cisco loads the data and shakes his head. “No improvement.”

Wells makes a vague noise of frustration and sinks back into the seat. “Do you think he’ll wake up?”

“Barry did.” Cisco frowns at the information on his tablet. “And Wally has a lot of the same symptoms Barry had during his coma. Do you think it’s possible—”

“What, that West becomes a metahuman?” Wells rubs his forehead. “I have no idea. The particle accelerator explosion was the reason for the creation of every other metahuman. The assumption being that it’s impossible to create a meta without those forces.”

“But…” Cisco can tell there’s a _but_.

“ _But_ West is experiencing the same symptoms, as you said, and Zolomon did just consume Barry’s speed. Not only that, but he’s previously had V-6, 7, and 8 in his system.”

“So you’re saying that something about Jay acquiring Barry’s speed set off the lightning storm and gave Wally the same powers?”

Wells takes off his glasses and sighs. “I’m saying that it’s possible. The speed force is a mysterious…” He can’t think of the word, so trails off, gesturing vaguely.

“Force?” Cisco suggests.

Wells rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. The point is we’re dealing with totally unknown variables here. He could wake up with powers exactly like Barry’s. He could wake up exactly the same. He could never—” He cuts off, glancing beyond Cisco to the door.

Cisco turns around. “Hey! Joe! Has… anything changed?”

“No.”

Cisco winces at how ragged Joe’s voice is.

Joe looks at Wells. “Something I never told you. Something I never told anyone except Barry.” He sighs and sinks into a chair, rubbing his eyes. “When Barry was in his coma, the doctors had no idea what to do. The…” He gestures at nothing with one hand. “The other Wells. He offered to take Barry to S.T.A.R. Labs. He said he could help him.”

Wells frowns. “Okay.”

“I never trusted him. I knew something was wrong with that Wells from the beginning. But I let him take Barry, because I knew he was smart enough to help.”

“So you think I can do something? I’m not him!” Wells, frustrated, knocks a tray of tools off the table. Again.

“I know!” Joe rises to his feet. “That’s not what I meant. You’re better than he ever was. Smarter. Stronger. Braver. You are a better man than Thawne could ever hope to be. Without Caitlin here, if anyone can help Wally, it’s you.”

Iris and Barry, attracted by the noise, are lingering at the doorway. Everyone looks at Wells.

“Please,” Iris whispers. Her voice breaks in the middle of the single syllable. “If you can do anything…”

Wells can’t refuse, faced with so much attention. He doesn’t want to anyway.

He’s just terrified that he’ll fail.

“All right.” Wells holds his hand out to Cisco, who blinks at him. He sighs, aggravated, and snatches the tablet from Cisco’s hands. “Do you have any records of Allen’s vitals while he was in his coma?”

“Yeah, they should be in Caitlin’s med bay,” Cisco says. “I’ll go get them for you.” Iris and Barry move out of his way so he can leave the room.

“Allen, how did you wake up?”

Barry spreads his hands wide. “I just did. But it took nine months.”

“Right, well, we don’t have nine months.” He puts on his glasses and peers at the data.

Cisco comes back in and hands over a flash drive to Wells, who plugs it into the tablet and starts typing. Everyone watches him for a moment.

Finally, he glances up. “Please go away. I don’t know if I can save him, but it won’t help if you’re all standing here watching me.”

They disperse. Barry, Joe, and Iris go back to Wally’s bedside and just watch him, all their faces ashen. Cisco, as Harry is taking up his workroom, relocates to Caitlin’s medical bay, where he accidentally but not unwillingly vibes her every few minutes.

Wells studies the data and thinks. A lot.

Eventually, he emerges from the room. Immediately Joe, Iris, and Barry are on their feet, and Cisco rushes back into the room.

None of them need to voice the question that they’re all wondering. Wells answers it anyway with an exhausted nod.

“You’re not going to like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know, he's still not awake. Maybe if you're lucky you'll get an extra chapter today. I don't like cliffhangers either.


	5. Chapter 5

Wells knows it won’t be a popular idea.

But it’s the only thing that might work.

“We hit him with another lightning bolt.”

“That’s going to kill him.” Joe can’t imagine how it _won’t_.

“Wait, are we talking, like, Back to the Future? Because even if it wouldn’t kill him, that’s still 1.21 gigawatts that have to come from somewhere. There’s not enough power in the city grid for that.” Cisco is usually all for crazy ideas, but this?

“How would that even work?” Iris is a little more open to it after seeing everything the scientists here at S.T.A.R. Labs can do, but she still can’t imagine the practicality of it.

“Um…” Even Barry doubts it, and he’s been through enough impossibilities that he shouldn’t be able to doubt _anything_ anymore.

“I know. It sounds crazy. But look.” Wells holds up the tablet, upon which two animated graphs are playing, almost perfectly identical. The only difference is that the one on the right is moving faster. “The left one is your pulse, Allen, when you were in your coma. The one on the right is West’s.”

“But Barry’s pulse was going so fast that the hospital’s machines couldn’t even register it,” Joe says. “How could Wally’s be faster?”

“How should I know? What’s important is that it _is_. Meaning that there’s definitely something strange going on in his body, and whatever it is, it’s mirroring the Flash’s symptoms almost exactly. Now, in the time I’ve been here, Allen has been beaten up countless times, gone blind, and broken his spine. He’s still here. Wally West appears to have an even greater connection to the speed force. We hit him with a jolt of electricity, it should be enough to pull him out of his coma without causing any lasting damage.”

“Should be is an awful lot of uncertainty when it’s my son’s life we’re talking about!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was under the impression that you _didn’t_ want to wait nine months for another of your children to wake up from a coma. If you have a better idea, Detective, I’d love to hear it.”

“We should try it,” Iris says, before either of the men can get more heated than they already are. “He’s right, Dad. What could it hurt? And look.” Iris reaches out to touch Wally’s hand.

A tiny burst of electricity sparks from his fingertips to hers.

“The same as Barry.”

Joe gives Iris a long, thoughtful look, and then shifts his gaze to Wally.

“All right. Let’s do it.”

Cisco figures out the logistics in record time—once Harry assures him that 1.21 gigawatts are not actually required. He gets the defibrillator revamped and charged up within twenty minutes.

“Okay.” Without Caitlin, Cisco is unanimously chosen as the best person to administer the shock. “You all might want to stand back a little.”

They do so. Joe puts an arm around each of his children’s shoulders. Wells watches, his arms crossed and his mind racing. All of them hoping.

Cisco takes a deep breath, mutters “Clear,” and then puts the defibrillators on Wally’s chest.

Instantly, two things happen.

Wally jolts awake, sitting straight up.

Cisco jolts into a vibe: the Flash stands on the other side of the Cortex. He removes his mask.

And it’s Wally.

Cisco drags himself back to the real world.

Joe is hugging Wally tightly, not even giving him a chance to stand up. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He pulls back and looks over his shoulder at Wells. “Thank you.”

Wells nods, trying not to act like he cares too much. He’s ecstatic as any of them internally, but he has a reputation to maintain. So he blinks quickly until the dampness in his eyes disappears.

“How do you feel?” Barry asks Wally.

“I’m not really sure.” Wally pulls off the wires connecting him to various machines and takes a step—

And he’s instantly in front of Barry. He stumbles, and Barry catches him before he can hit the ground.

“What the—” Wally glances at the bed, a few yards behind him, and then back at Barry. “How did I…”

Barry claps a hand on his shoulder and grins at him. “Wally, I can say with absolute certainty that I know _exactly_ how you feel.”

“What’s going on?”

“You were struck by lightning last night,” Cisco says. Despite—or perhaps because of—the vibe, he can’t help but grin. “Now you’ve got the same powers as Barry. As he used to, I mean.”

“Woah, woah, woah, how did this happen?” Wally demands. He steps away from Barry and looks at Joe, and then Iris. “I don’t want any powers!”

“We think it has something to do with Zoom,” Wells says. “The storm started shortly after he acquired Barry’s speed. It’s all theoretical, of course, but him running with not only Barry’s speed force but traces of the amplifiers Velocity 6 through 9 could have electrically charged the air so that the lightning that struck you imbued you with the same powers.”

“So I’m a metahuman now?” Wally looks around at all of them.

They all nod.

Iris, seeing how upset Wally is, gives him a hug. “It’ll be all right,” she whispers in his ear. “Some of my best friends are metahumans.”

Wally gently pushes her away. “I don’t want to be a metahuman, and especially not if it’s because of the guy that kidnapped me.”

“Tell me about it,” Cisco says. “My abilities were awakened when I was murdered in an alternate timeline. I don’t like it much either. But you can use them to save people. We’ll help you figure it out.”

Wally shakes his head. “I’m going home.” He starts toward the door. Every other step, he accidentally uses his newfound superspeed.

The lightning that crackles around his motion, rather than being yellow or red or even blue, is white.

Barry steps in his path and puts his hands on Wally’s shoulders to stop him. “Hey. I know it’s strange, and terrifying, and you didn’t ask for any of this. But we can help you. I promise.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re used to this whole meta life. If I could, I’d _give_ you my speed,” Wally says, frustrated, and shoves Barry out of his way.

White lightning sparks between them.

Barry tries again to block Wally from leaving—

And this time, he _flashes_ in front of him. Superspeed. Yellow electricity buzzing around him.

Everyone reacts.

Wally flinches backward. “I thought your powers were gone.”

“Barry!” Joe and Iris say in unison, voices full of hope.

Wells exchanges an astonished look with Cisco, and then both of them start toward Barry.

Nobody looks more surprised than Barry himself. He holds up a hand and attempts to vibrate it at his normal speed.

He shakes his head. “Nothing. Whatever happened, it’s gone.”

So all attention turns to Wally.

Barry is the one to ask. “How did you do that?”

Now Wally shakes his head, eyes wide. “I don’t know.” He doesn’t want to be a metahuman. But…

“But that was pretty cool.” He tries but can’t resist a grin.

With various levels of confusion and awe, the others nod in agreement.

Even without Barry’s speed, even without Caitlin, now—

Now, they just might have a chance against Zoom.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, the treadmill will match your speed. And don’t worry, I can assure you the wall behind it is _very_ well padded in case you trip.” Barry’s finding it simultaneously frustrating and exciting being on the other side of the glass wall. Sure, he misses his own speed, but being the mentor rather than the mentee makes him at least feel useful even without being the Flash.

“Okay,” Wally says. He cracks his knuckles and starts to run.

The whole team watches, amazed, as he bursts into superspeed. White lightning flares out behind and around him.

Cisco tracks his speed. He recalls Barry’s initial speed test at Ferris Air. 250 mph.

Wally’s hitting 300. 400. _500 miles per hour._ And he’s still increasing his speed.

Before he reaches another milestone, like maybe breaking the sound barrier—and he’s close—Wally stumbles over his own feet and crashes into the pads behind the treadmill.

Iris and Joe both scramble to their feet. Barry, who has experience with this situation, doesn’t bother.

“Wally! Are you all right?” Iris asks.

Wally disentangles himself and stands up. “Yeah.” He grins. “That was a rush. Can I do it again?”

“Of course,” Cisco says. “You’re much faster than Barry was when he was just starting out. No offense, Barry.”

“None taken.” Barry is actually enjoying watching Wally use his new speed. And, sure, there’s still an ache deep inside his chest somewhere, the pain of losing something that was his life for so long. But he’s not going to ruin the experience for Wally. “Try again.”

Wally climbs back on the treadmill and starts again. This time, less hesitant, he goes faster sooner, and is nearly up to six hundred before falling again.

One more try, and there’s the intense _crack_ of him breaching the sound barrier.

The whole team, even Wells, applauds at that, and they unanimously agree that’s a good time for him to take a break.

They disperse around S.T.A.R. Labs—Wells and Cisco go into Cisco’s workroom to try vibing Caitlin again, while Joe, Iris, and Barry hang around to congratulate Wally.

“Hey, do you know how you, you know, gave me speed again?” Barry asks Wally after the initial round of congratulations ends.

Wally shrugs. “Trust me, if I knew, I would be doing that right now. It _is_ pretty cool, but I still don’t know about this whole…” He gestures vaguely around. “Superhero thing.”

Barry nods. “I know, it’s a lot to take in. We’ll be here to help you, though, every step of the way.” He thinks for a moment. “And hey, you might not want to be a hero every day, but if you can figure out not only how to give speed but also how to take it away, you could be the key to us not just getting Caitlin back, but also defeating Zoom.”

Wally takes a deep breath, appearing overwhelmed by the prospect. But he nods.

“I’d love to help bring that monster down.”

The computers in the Cortex let out a loud, recurring beep. Cisco rushes out of his workroom, Wells following shortly. Everyone gathers around the computer station.

Before Cisco can even read out what’s happening, Joe gets a call from the station.

Both of the sources agree.

There’s a metahuman attack at Mercury Labs.

“Witnesses are saying plants are growing through the floors,” Cisco reports.

Joe hangs up the phone and looks back and forth between Barry and Wally. “We need the Flash.”

Barry puts a hand on Wally’s shoulder. “You don’t need to do this. We can figure out another way to stop this meta.”

“But, if you do want to help, Barry’s suit should fit you. Until I make you a suit of your own, of course,” Cisco says.

Wally takes what, for him, is a minute or two, and for everyone else is only a second, to think.

“I’ll do it,” he says, and runs off. He returns in seconds with the suit on. “This is pretty comfortable, Barry.”

“Right?” Barry grins. “Just touch the lightning bolt if you need to talk to us, and we’ll direct you through the comms in your ears.”

“Witty banter is appreciated, but not necessary,” Cisco adds.

“Awesome. Which way is Mercury Labs?”

The moment Wally is gone, Wells crosses his arms and frowns. “He’s not ready for this. He doesn’t know the first thing about fighting metahumans.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Iris says. “I believe in him.”

“I do too, but for once I agree with Wells.” Joe watches the little dot on the screen labeled ‘Flash’ as it moves through the city. “I still don’t like Barry going up against these people, but at least he’s got experience. Wally has no idea what he’s doing.”

“Look, guys, Wally will be fine. He’s smart, he’s fast, and he’s got an expert guiding him,” Barry says.

“Thanks, Barry,” Cisco says.

“I meant me.” Barry smirks at him.

“Okay. I’m the one who kept you alive for two years, but okay.” Cisco returns the grin.

Wally’s voice comes through the speakers. “Um, guys, I’m at Mercury Labs. What do I do now?”

They all focus on the job at hand.

“Do you see the metahuman?” Wells asks.

“Yeah.”

The first level of Mercury Labs is in a state of upheaval. The marble floors are cracked in a multitude of places, each of them with vines curling up and around the fractures.

People are screaming and running, or trying to run, away from a man wearing all black, but for a green ski mask over his face. As they flee, the meta throws up a hand in their direction, and vines sprout through the floor and wrap around their legs, immobilizing them.

“If there’s anyone in the building, get them to safety,” Barry says in Wally’s ear.

“Okay. I can do that,” Wally murmurs, more to himself than anyone back at S.T.A.R. Labs. He races across the lobby, swerving a little bit, and yanks the constricting vines off the first person he encounters. He speeds her out of the building and then returns, repeating the process for the dozen others trapped in the same position.

The meta takes notice and spins to face Wally. All he can see through the mask is the man’s narrowed eyes.

The meta gestures widely, and below Wally, the already cracked marble splits completely open. Vines snake toward him.

Wally races out of the way—he doesn’t need anyone at S.T.A.R. Labs to advise him of that much.

“Who is he?” Cisco asks.

“Who are you?” Wally repeats, louder.

“You can call me the Plant Master,” the man says, his voice low and threatening. “Come and get me, Flash.”

“Go, Wally,” Barry urges.

Wally runs toward him, not sure what’s going to happen when he reaches him but willing to try anyway.

“Just watch out for—” Barry starts.

Before he can reach the Plant Master, the meta gestures again.

A full-grown oak tree sprouts in between them. It expands so rapidly, and Wally doesn’t have the best reaction time while running, that he crashes right into it and collapses.

“—traps,” Barry finishes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last night I scribbled out plans for the rest of this story across eleven post-it notes. Guys, this is gonna be awesome. I'm planning on writing a lot very quickly, so it'll be done by Tuesday—I won't want to directly contradict canon when it inevitably tears apart this fic. This might mean I upload five chapters on Tuesday. We'll see!

“Wally, are you okay?” Joe asks frantically.

Wally gets to his feet, rubbing his head. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He runs around the tree, but the meta is gone. “Should I come back?”

“Yes. There’s no use going after him if we don’t know how to stop him,” Wells replies.

Wally starts back to S.T.A.R. Labs, a little disappointed in himself.

When he returns, Cisco watches his vibe come to life as Wally, across the Cortex, removes the Flash mask. “Cool,” he mutters to himself.

“Sorry,” Wally says. “I guess I wasn’t fast enough.”

“Nah, you were plenty fast enough,” Barry assures him. “It just takes practice.”

“I ran into a tree.”

Barry laughs. “Don’t worry about it. I once ran into the stream of a gun firing absolute cold, and one firing absolute heat. At the same time. It happens. Hard to control speed when everyone’s trying to kill you.”

“You’ll do better next time,” Iris assures Wally.

“Did you get a look at his face?” Cisco asks.

“He was wearing a mask.”

Wells nods. “If he’s going after something at Mercury Labs, this… Plant Master might have a connection to them. Cisco, start checking for any other Mercury Labs employees who went missing after the particle accelerator explosion.”

“Already on it,” Cisco says. “And, by the way, we are _not_ calling him the Plant Master. This is why we don’t let the supervillains name themselves. I’m thinking… Floron.”

“Floron?” Barry raises an eyebrow at Cisco. “Usually your names make a little bit more sense.”

“Hey. Floron is a perfectly good name. It’s like flora, so, plants, plus, it has the _on_ ending, which clearly makes it sound cooler. See: Voltron. Megalodon. Tachyon.”

“Whatever we’re going to call him, how are we going to stop him?” Wells asks.

“Well, maybe if I don’t run into a tree next time, that’ll help,” Wally says.

“If Caitlin were here, she would figure out how Floron is doing all of this,” Cisco says.

Everybody looks away, mostly at the floor. They take a moment to collect themselves.

“Cisco, have you gotten the results about Mercury Labs employees?” Joe asks finally.

“Um, yeah.” Cisco checks the screen. “There are a few employees who still haven’t shown up after the accelerator exploded. They were reported missing.”

“Cross-reference them with anyone working on plant-based projects,” Wells says.

“Right, of course.” He types for a moment, and then a name and picture pop up on the screen. “Jason Woodrew. He worked at Mercury Labs and was doing some tests on plants, trying to alter their genetic makeup to make them more resistant to diseases and pests.”

The image is a Mercury Labs ID picture of a man with long blonde hair and a bright smile. No sign of him becoming a building-destroying meta.

“Have there been any other sightings of… Floron… recently?” Barry asks.

Cisco spins in the chair to face Iris. “You’re the one with the blog about metas. Any tips?”

Iris pulls out her phone and scrolls through emails and PMs sent to her blog account. “There are a few vague accounts of something to do with plants,” she says. “They didn’t have any detail and seemed unreliable, so I ignored them. I get a lot of false reports by people who are just trying to get featured on the blog. But I’ll forward the Floron ones to you.”

“Barry and I should head over to C.C.P.D. They’ll want us for this new meta case,” Joe says. He gives Iris a good-naturedly disapproving look. “And don’t you have a job, Iris?”

“Yeah. Probably ought to go every once in a while if I don’t want to be fired.”

“I’ll go… something,” Wally says. “I just need a few minutes.”

Barry recalls how he ran off when first dealing with his powers. All the way to Starling City to talk to Oliver Queen. “Take as much time as you need.”

“In the meantime, Cisco and I will try to locate Floron,” Wells says.

“And figure out how to save Caitlin,” Cisco adds.

The team splits.

* * *

Barry isn’t used to walking in on a metahuman crime scene and seeing it for the first time. The sight is even more shocking than Wally described: all of the marble floor is shattered, and the interior of the building is, other than the occasional glimpse of sterile white walls or furniture, indistinguishable from a jungle.

“Wow. Metahuman?” Barry asks Captain Singh, feigning ignorance. “I could take some of the plants back to my lab and see what I can figure out. _Is_ it a meta?”

“It looks like it. Do that, but first help Joe talk to the witnesses. Apparently the Flash showed up, but the metahuman escaped.”

Barry and Joe nod. When Singh walks away, they look at each other and smirk. Both know they’ll learn nothing new from the witnesses.

But off they go to interview them anyway and pretend they know nothing about what just happened.

* * *

 

 Wally runs back to Joe’s place. He wants something familiar, something normal, so he heads out back to his car.

When he gets there, he remembers. The car was struck by lightning. There’s no way it’ll work now.

He climbs inside and tries to start it. Nothing. It’s dead.

Maybe something can be salvaged, at least. He opens up the hood and starts examining the parts.

Weirdly, everything seems to be in perfect condition. There’s a scorch mark that’s imprinted a black lightning pattern on the top of the red car, but other than that every part is perfectly in order.

The car just doesn’t run.

He reenters the car, sticks the keys in, and looks at the dash for a moment.

His gaze shifts to his hands. Wally recalls how he somehow transferred speed to Barry.

Would that work with an inanimate object?

Wally knows cars. He knows how they work, how they drive, how to push them to the limits of their abilities without endangering the vehicle. He _knows_ cars.

He reaches out again to start the car.

This time, white electricity flows through his hand and into the ignition.

The car starts.

So he’s off to the street races.

* * *

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco puts on the glasses again and tries to vibe Caitlin. He’s not entirely sure why he does it anymore—he knows exactly where she is and what her situation is—but that’s not going to stop him from doing it.

Jay’s back, bringing her food. It’s not that bad, considering that she’s a prisoner. Looks like Chinese.

“Why are you doing all of this?” Caitlin sounds exhausted, but she takes the food. “Why take me if you’re just going to keep me in this cell?”

Jay looks at her. “Because I can, Caitlin. Because the Flash isn’t around to save you.” He starts to walk away.

“Do you think I would ever love you again?” Caitlin calls after him.

Cisco grits his teeth. “No, Caitlin, don’t say that!”

He watches, terrified, as Jay turns back.

In an instant, Jay’s in front of her, in full Zoom getup. Caitlin stumbles back a step, but still glares bravely at him, crossing her arms. “Well?”

“I don’t take prisoners for their _love_.” Zoom looks at the man in the iron mask, a cell away, and then back to Caitlin. “I take them to prove a point. And you, Cait, prove that I’ve beaten the Flash.”

“You haven’t beaten him,” Caitlin promises. “They’re going to stop you, Hunter.”

Cisco, more than seeing it, _feels_ Jay grow furious. He pulls off the Zoom mask.

If it were in the real world, Cisco would be squeezing his eyes shut so as not to see what happens next. Here, the only way he could avoid it is leaving the vibe, and he can’t leave Caitlin.

But all Jay says, in a voice colder than Killer Frost, is, “Don’t call me Hunter.”

He zooms away, leaving Caitlin alone but for the man in the iron mask and an invisible Cisco.

* * *

It’s the middle of the day, but Wally always knows where to go to find street racing, twenty-four hours a day. Around this time of day, it’s a seedy back alley in the bad part of town. A smaller group than usual, but that’s all right.

He races.

And, with his newfound abilities, wins every time.

He’d win anyway, he’s sure, but that doesn’t stop him from adding little jolts of speed into the car, revving up its power and velocity.

When he gets out of the car after a particularly impressive win, a gorgeous brunette comes up to him with an almost flirtatious grin.

“That was pretty cool,” she says.

“Thanks,” Wally says, acting casual. His heart is beating fast, but not because of the adrenaline of racing nor the exertion of running. She’s beautiful. “What’s a girl like you doing out here?”

She smirks. “Isn’t that a little stereotypical of a question? I could ask what a guy like you is doing here, but I guess with that kind of talent, it’s pretty obvious.” She laughs. “But to answer your question, I’m on the run.”

“From the police?” Wally isn’t sure how seriously to take her answer. “No, wait, let me guess—you’re an international spy who’s wanted on three different continents.”

“How’d you know?” She laughs.

While she’s laughing, Wally figures he better take advantage. “You want to take a ride in the fastest car in the city? We could see how quick it gets to Jitters, have some coffee.”

“You asking me out? I guess that car isn’t the only thing that moves fast.” She’s still smiling, so Wally takes that as a good sign.

“You have no idea.” Wally opens the passenger side door for her.

She gets inside.

Wally mentally fist-pumps and gets into the driver’s side.

“I’m Wally, by the way.”

“Jesse.”


	8. Chapter 8

It’s an awesome date. Whoever this Jesse is, whatever her real reason for glancing at the door every time the bells jingle to signal an arrival, she’s funny and smart and, best of all, seems genuinely interested in Wally.

They talk and laugh for a couple of hours, both of them carefully avoiding sharing any real information about themselves, then Wally remembers he has a real commitment.

“I should go,” he says.

“Was it something I said?” Jesse asks.

He immediately shakes his head. “Of course not. I just have to get to S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“S.T.A.R. Labs?” Her expression shifts. Wally interprets it as confusion.

“It’s complicated.” He’s about to stand up, but hesitates. “I had a great time. Can I get your number?”

It’s Jesse’s turn to hesitate. Wally frowns. He’d thought she was enjoying herself too.

“Sure,” she says finally. “I might even like to see you again. If I’m not too busy running from the KGB and MI6, of course.”

Wally snickers and hands her his phone. She programs in her number.

“Do you need a ride anywhere?” he asks. He doesn’t have a ton of dating experience, but he figures it’s probably not a good idea to ditch the girl.

“No thanks. I’ll be fine.” She takes a sip of her coffee. “See you, Wally.”

“You too.”

He leaves.

Jesse watches the door swing closed. She sips her coffee again and smiles to herself, shaking her head. “I am in so much trouble.”

* * *

 It’s Joe’s idea to view the Mercury Labs security cameras. At first Barry doesn’t understand why—the first thing Floron did was block the cameras with vines.

But once they’re allowed the footage, Joe skips back to the night of the particle accelerator explosion.

And then Barry understands—it’s not the footage from earlier today that Joe is looking for, it’s Jason Woodrew’s origins.

“There.” Barry points to one of the camera views, recognizing Woodrew. Joe zooms in on it.

The black-and-white feed shows Woodrew in a greenhouse, running tests on plants. Joe fast-forwards to the moment of the explosion.

“Pause it,” Barry says, leaning forward.

The dark matter can be seen only as a shimmery haze intruding on the edge of the screen.

“Go frame by frame.”

The shimmer spreads across the screen. It shoots through the fern Woodrew is currently observing and then into the man himself.

For a moment, the camera only displays static, presumably due to the effects of the dark matter. When the footage resumes, Woodrew is on his back in a pile of leaves and vines.

“Can you zoom in on him?” Barry asks.

Joe does so, and they both stare at what’s become of Jason Woodrew.

It only seemed like he was in a pile of plant matter. But, instead, the plants are actually _part_ of him—leaves sprouting from his skin, vines wrapping out of and around his legs. It’s hard to tell from the footage, but what’s growing from his head appears to be long grass rather than hair.

He gets to his feet and stumbles out of the greenhouse.

With every footstep, flowers and saplings grow in his wake.

* * *

 

The mood in S.T.A.R. Labs is a lot more optimistic when they all reconvene there. Wally, of course, won a few races and met a girl. Joe and Barry come armed with the knowledge of how Woodrew became a meta. Wells and Cisco have figured out a way to neutralize his abilities.

“So that’s why he attacked S.T.A.R. Labs,” Cisco says when Joe and Barry share what they found. “He wanted to undo what happened to him.”

“He probably wanted to access his research,” Barry agrees. “But when the Flash showed up, he ran.”

“I think I’m more ready to take him on,” Wally says.

Wells nods. “Now that we know what he can do, Ramon and I have figured out a way to stop him.”

Cisco pulls out a large spray bottle. “One of the many projects S.T.A.R. Labs was involved in before the particle accelerator was a more advanced weed killer.”

“You alternated revolutionary scientific discoveries with… weed killer?” Wally asks.

“Hey. Nobody likes weeds. Anyway, we changed the formula to kill all plants, not just weeds. It should work, unless what he’s growing are some kind of superplants.”

“I tested some of the cells in my lab,” Barry says. “They’re indistinguishable from normal grass and vines and whatever else. He just grows them really fast.”

“Then the weed killer should work just fine,” Wells says.

“We just need to wait until Floron strikes again and we can test it out,” Cisco confirms.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Barry?” Wally asks.

Barry nods, and they head out into the hallway.

“What’s up?”

“I think I might have figured out how to transfer speed.”

“Really?” Barry’s voice brightens with hope.

Wally takes Barry’s hand and recalls the moment in the car, the way he allowed the speed force to go through him and into it.

Nothing happens.

Wally drops his hand. “Sorry. I thought I had, but…”

“It’s not a problem. Why, did you do it while you were gone?”

He nods. “That car that was struck by lightning. It didn’t start, but every part still seemed to be in good condition.”

Barry frowns, thinking. “Hmm. You’re an expert at making cars go faster already, maybe it has something to do with that?”

Wally shrugs. “I guess. Let’s go back. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

They reenter the Cortex, which is in a state of excitement.

“Floron’s back in action. He’s at Concordance Research,” Cisco reports.

“I’m headed over now,” Joe says on the phone, and then hangs up. “Wally, you don’t have to go.”

“Yes I do,” Wally says. He speeds off and returns wearing the Flash suit. “Cisco, will you make me a suit of my own?”

Cisco grins. “I’ve already started. Don’t forget the bottle.”

Wally takes the spray bottle and runs out, passing Joe in the hallway.

Joe watches his son—another one of them—run faster than any man should be able to.

He’s still concerned.

But it’s still amazing.

They all gather behind the screens to watch Wally’s progress, and, as he reaches Concordance Research, none of them could say that they aren’t a little nervous.

Wally bursts into Concordance Research. It’s not difficult to find a meta who can make plants grow—just follow the foliage.

“Talk to him,” Barry advises. “Sometimes they’ll listen to reason.”

“They don’t ever listen to reason,” Wells counters. “But it’ll probably slow him down.”

“I’ll try,” Wally says quietly as he rounds the corner.

There he is, again masked, again strangling people with vines. Wally rescues the four researchers and then reenters the building, skidding to a stop about ten yards away from Floron.

“Jason Woodrew!” Wally yells. “We can help you.”

He’s not sure whether it’s true, but the people working at S.T.A.R. Labs are brilliant. They _could_ probably come up with some kind of cure for his plant problem.

“Nobody can help me,” Floron says, a little sadly. He pulls off his mask.

Wally blinks. He saw the video, but it’s much harder to process in person.

A now-cut short layer of grass covers his head. Small, brilliantly colored flowers are scattered across the lower right half of his face. Vines creep downward from his eyes like tears and curl around his nose and mouth. Moss sprouts where he should have a mustache and beard.

Wally swallows hard and focuses. “Come with me. We can figure out how to cure you.”

Floron hesitates, and for a moment Wally hopes he won’t have to fight.

Then he shakes his head. “No, I don’t need your help. I don’t need anybody’s help. I control all of this. I can be so much more.”

To Wally, it sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as much as the Flash.

“I am the Plant Master.”

Floron throws the mask down, and the foliage spreads across his face until, but for the eyes and mouth, his head could be mistaken for the forest floor. Plants start sprouting from the ground. Nope. He’s not going to listen to reason.

“Okay,” Wally says under his breath. “Let’s do this.”

He sprays the plants nearest him, just to test out the formula. Immediately, they wither into dust.

Then Wally runs, and this time when a tree bursts up in front of him, he’s ready. He dodges around it and immediately sprays it, then continues toward Floron.

Before he can reach him, a vine winds around his leg and trips him. Wally kills it, but more are already curling around his legs, arms, and face, tying him to the ground. He drops the spray bottle, which rolls away. He can’t run—he might be fast, but he’s not strong enough to rip the vines apart. He starts vibrating in his struggle, the lightning crackling around him.

“What do I do?” he shouts to his friends back at S.T.A.R. Labs. “I can’t get out of the vines!”

“You’re going to have to phase through them,” Barry says. “If you can vibrate at the same frequency as the air around you, you can move through solid objects.”

“What? How?” Floron is making his escape.

Barry, for whatever reason, sounds almost resentful when he replies. “Breathe. Feel the air around you. Feel the lightning, feel its power. _Use_ its power. Focus on the air, and just do it.”

Wally is baffled. But he does what Barry says. His vision goes hazy as he vibrates through different speeds, straining against the vines.

And then _poof_ , he’s through them, grabbing the spray, and knocking Floron to the ground. Floron is about to grow some more plants, and Wally is prepared to spray them to death, but then both of them are distracted by an odd sparking sound from behind.

Wally turns in time to see the vines he just phased through explode with a deafening boom. The distraction allows him enough time to superspeed-punch Floron, knocking him out.

“You didn’t tell me the vines were going to explode,” Wally says, gasping for breath and getting to his feet.

“That… doesn’t happen when I do it,” Barry says.

“There seem to be multiple differences between your abilities and the original Flash’s,” Wells adds.

“All right, well, I’m not phasing through anything else until we figure this out,” Wally says. “I’m heading back.”

Now he can see why Barry loves this so much.

Wally has just defeated his first metahuman.

And it’s _awesome_.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two more chapters; they'll be posted sometime before the new episode officially airs (7 pm CST). 
> 
> Fair warning: there won't be any satisfactory answer to who the man in the iron mask is, because there's no theory I believe in particularly more than any other. It'll be more or less handwaved away.

Once Floron is safely locked away in the pipeline, Wally returns the Flash suit to its rightful position in the display case. His phone buzzes—a text from Jesse.

_You busy?_

He responds with, _I don’t have to be._

“Anyone special?” Barry asks, seeing his grin.

“Kind of. I met a girl earlier today.”

“Nice!” Cisco says. “You know, Barry has, like, a million girls after him all the time. Must be something about the speed force.”

Barry shakes his head at Cisco. “That’s not even close to true.” Turning back to Wally, he asks, “What’s her name?”

“Jesse.”

The smiles drop off Barry’s and Cisco’s faces. Wells, who has been writing equations on one of the clear boards, drops the marker and spins to face Wally.

“What did she look like?” he demands, expressionless.

Wally, startled by everyone’s reactions, says, “Um, brunette, short, really hot…”

Wells stalks across the Cortex toward Wally. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small photograph. “Like this?” Sure enough, it’s Jesse.

“Yeah… why do you have a picture of her?”

Behind him, Barry and Cisco look at each other with identical ‘he’s doomed’ faces. They both bite their lips to resist laughter and turn back to watch Wells and Wally.

“She’s my daughter. She ran away; she’s been gone for weeks. How do you know Jesse?”

“She’s your daughter?” Wally’s eyes go unbelievably wide. “Oh, no, I am in so much trouble.”

“No, I don’t care about that.” Wells waves a hand dismissively. “I just care that she’s safe. Where is she? You have her number? How did you meet her?”

“It was at a street race. She came up to me after I won, we talked, we had coffee. I don’t know where she is right now. She was still at Jitters when I left. Do you want me to call her?”

His phone buzzes with another text. _If you’re still at S.T.A.R. Labs, I’m right outside._ And a moment later: _Say hi to Dad._

“That’s her?” Wells doesn’t wait for a response. He snatches the phone from Wally’s hand and reads the messages. “Oh, God, Jesse’s _here_.” He hands back the phone and starts out of the room, and then pauses and turns back to Wally, deathly serious. “We’ll talk about you dating my daughter later.”

All three men let the ominous quiet linger for a moment before Wally turns to Barry and Cisco.

“Stop looking so happy. How much trouble am I in?”

“It depends.” Cisco leans forward and rests his elbows on the top of the monitor in front of him. “Did you kiss her?”

“No.”

“Aw, man, you went on a date with Jesse and you didn’t even kiss her?” Cisco shakes his head. “The one time you could have gotten away with it, because Harry will be so relieved she’s back, and you missed your chance.”

“You’ll be fine. This Wells isn’t a speedster from the future, so he _most likely_ won’t kill you painfully,” Barry says.

“Yeah, you’re pretty fast now, so you can probably get away before he can try,” Cisco confirms.

Neither of them is exactly reassuring.

“Thanks, guys. Do you have my suit done yet, Cisco?”

“Now that you mention it.” Cisco glances over his shoulder as Wells reenters with Jesse in tow. “I’ll show you in a minute.”

“Hi, Wally,” Jesse says cheerfully.

Wally shoots a quick glance at Wells, who’s smiling at his daughter, and says guardedly, “Hi. Nice seeing you again.”

“Are you back for good, or just until you get the chance to run away again?” Barry asks.

“I’m here for a while, at least. Dad told me what’s going on. I’d like to help you get Caitlin back.”

At the mention of Caitlin, the mood in the room shifts. Everyone respects a brief moment of silence.

“Right,” Cisco finally says. “I have a bit of a plan, but it mostly relies on you being able to give speed to others, Wally.”

He shakes his head. “I still don’t know how. It works sometimes, but it’s so inconsistent.”

“Try it again,” Barry suggests. He holds out his hand to Wally.

Wally does, but still, nothing happens.

“Try me,” Cisco says. When everyone looks at him, he shrugs. “I want to try superspeed.”

“You don’t know what the effects might be if you’ve never tapped into the speed force before—” Wells stops when Wally tries it anyway. “Why does nobody ever listen to me?” he mutters under his breath.

It doesn’t work with Cisco either, but when the two of them make contact, Cisco vibes for a moment.

And it’s _Jesse_ in his vibe, racing around the lab with superspeed and laughing.

He snaps out of it. “Nothing. But try Jesse.”

“No,” Wells says.

“It’s gonna work, Harry, I vibed it.”

“And did you _vibe_ what comes next?”

Jesse, ignoring her father, pushes past him and approaches Wally.

“Jesse,” Wells says warningly.

“I’m eighteen, Dad, you don’t control me.” She turns to face him and crosses her arms. “Do we need to go through this again? Besides, I’ve been kidnapped and nearly killed by Zoom. Nothing will happen that’s more dangerous than that.”

She holds out a hand to Wally.

Wally looks back and forth between her and Wells, clearly conflicted.

Wells, frustrated, nods and waves a hand at Wally. “Do it, West.”

“Okay.” Wally takes Jesse’s hand and focuses, like Barry was saying before, on the speed force and the lightning he knows he has within him.

And he focuses on Jesse, on how pretty and funny she is, how his heart rate spikes when he’s around her.

White lightning travels from his hand to hers.

“Woah,” Jesse breathes. She breaks into a run and blurs around the Cortex, laughing gleefully. Her lightning, like Wally’s, is white.

Barry watches her, impressed, and still maybe a little jealous. Wells watches her as well, concerned, but no bad effects appear forthcoming.

She skids to a stop near Barry’s suit and gestures to it. “Can I get one?”

“No. You don’t need a suit,” Wells says immediately.

Jesse glares at him. “Come on, Dad.”

“The speed won’t last long enough,” he says by way of explanation. “When West transferred some of the speed force to Allen, it only lasted for a moment.”

Jesse starts running again. She does a few laps around the Cortex before the speed does indeed run out and she’s demoted to a normal pace.

“Speaking of suits, I have _got_ to show you what I made for you,” Cisco tells Wally.

“Sure.”

Cisco runs into his workroom—normal speed—and comes out with a mass of silver-blue leather.

Wally takes it, speeds out of the room to change, and returns.

It’s similar to Barry’s, except molded more precisely to Wally’s measurements, and it’s a pale blue-grey. The lightning bolt on the chest is white, with a darker blue background. Wally runs around the Cortex wearing it, nothing more than a blur of blue and white.

“Meet the Blue Streak,” Cisco says. “Man, I impress myself more every day. Wait—you need a name now!”

Wally stops near Barry’s suit, and the contrast between the blue and the red is striking. Cisco clearly knows how to design superhero costumes.

“Taillights,” Wally says.

“Taillights,” Cisco repeats. “Nice.”

“Barry, let me try again.” Wally thinks he’s got it down now.

But _again_ , despite repeating exactly what he did with Jesse, he can’t recharge Barry’s speed.

Then Jesse steps up next to him and takes his hand.

And now the lightning crackles from him to Barry.

“It’s Jesse,” Wally says.

“Yeah, ‘cause you like her,” Cisco says. “It must have something to do with your dopamine or serotonin levels, so whenever you’re around Jesse…” He trails off when he sees Wells glaring at him and Wally in turn. “Sorry, Wally…”

“But I also managed to start a car with speed force,” Wally says.

“Well, you’re happy when you’re around cars too,” Barry points out.

“Which means it produces the same results.” Wells nods. Everyone looks at him, waiting for some comment about Jesse and Wally. He sighs. “Wally, come here.”

Approaching him, Wally considers that earlier today, he fought a metahuman who could grow plants from nothing.

Wells is definitely scarier.

He leans close to Wally and whispers in his ear. “I don’t care how fast you can run. If you hurt her, well…”

Wally can’t see it, but everyone else sees Wells’s small smile.

“They can’t arrest a man who’s already dead.”

Wells pulls back and claps Wally on the shoulder, still smiling. “Let’s stop Zoom. What’s your plan, Cisco?”

Cisco grins. “How many more of those tachyon devices do you think we can make?”


	10. Chapter 10

Cisco’s plan is a little ragged around the edges, but everyone agrees it’s the best one they’ve got.

Wells _strongly_ protests Jesse coming along, but without her Wally can’t transfer speed, and without that ability the whole plan is doomed.

He does allow Cisco to sketch out and quickly throw together a suit for Jesse in red and yellow. The purpose, other than creating an epic team of well-dressed speedsters, is to contain the tachyon speed enhancers, as well as comms systems, trackers, and small screens to display the tracker data so they can find each other.

Now, all of them are fully outfitted. Barry has his Flash suit, of course. Wally’s got a formidable-looking one as well. Cisco has his Vibe glasses, and he’s been secretly designing a suit for himself ever since returning from Earth-2, black leather edged in red. Wells, as much as it creeps everyone out, including the man himself, uses Thawne’s Reverse Flash outfit—it’s already made and, after all, fits perfectly. And now Jesse has a stellar red and yellow Flash-type suit too.

Cisco vibes again and this time projects his voice so Caitlin can hear him.

“ _We’re coming to get you._ ”

Caitlin stares in Cisco’s general direction, frightened. “Be careful,” she murmurs before glancing over her shoulder to check for Zoom.

Back in the real world, Barry and Wally exchange hugs with Iris and Joe.

“Be careful,” Joe says to both of them. He glances back and forth between his sons, unshed tears shining in his eyes. “My two speedsters.”

“Come back to us,” Iris says. “Bring Caitlin home. Don’t let Zoom win.”

Before Cisco opens the breach down in the S.T.A.R. Labs basement, Wally, with Jesse’s help, gives all of them a shot of speed. This time, rather than only maintaining contact for a moment, he lets the lightning flash between them for a little while, the hope being that the others will sustain their speed for longer.

Barry and Cisco, both of them already charged up, watch from a few steps away as Wally doesn’t hesitate to give Wells speed.

“I’m not the only one having problems with this, right?” Cisco mutters to Barry.

Barry shakes his head. The sight of Harrison Wells wearing the yellow suit, lightning crackling around him, makes it very difficult to remember that he’s not the same as the man in that suit last year.

“It’s terrifying,” Barry whispers back.

Wells turns toward them. “Come on, Ramon, let’s get to Earth-2.”

“Right.” Cisco faces the place where the breach used to be and takes a deep breath, holding out a hand toward it.

He focuses on opening the breach, and finds that not only is it spreading out blue before him, but also that his hand is vibrating, Flash-style.

“Cool,” he says, and then they’re headed through the breach and back to Earth-2.

They come out in Earth-2’s S.T.A.R. Labs. It’s late at night, luckily, which means nobody’s around to gawk at the five speedsters strolling through as though they own the place—which one of them does.

And then they start running.

Aside from Barry, whose lightning is still yellow, all of them have white electricity sparking behind them as they begin to run.

But, as they make their way across Central City toward Zoom’s hideout, the white fades to a different color for each, leaving Wally with the only white lightning left.

Cisco’s is a radar-like green; Jesse’s shifts to an orange only a few shades away from Barry’s yellow; Wells’s turns a familiar red.

They stop outside of Zoom’s lair.

“Is Zoom in there, Ramon?”

Honestly, the one thing that keeps Harry from looking exactly like evil Wells is the normal, non-red eyes. Marginally less scary.

But not much.

Cisco closes his eyes and vibes. “Not at the moment.”

“Then let’s go,” Barry says.

“Hold on, I should fill you all up first,” Wally says. He works with cars, after all—always fill up before a race.

And this is going to be a heck of a race.

Once he’s again transferred speed force to each of them, they run straight up Ascension Cliffs and into Zoom’s lair.

Caitlin and the man in the iron mask both scramble to their feet.

Caitlin smiles and hurries to the front of her cell—and then her eyes land on Wells and she stumbles back in shock and horror.

“Don’t worry!” Barry says immediately, pulling off his mask. “It’s just Harry.”

“With superspeed?” Caitlin’s guarded now.

“It’s complicated,” Barry says. “Go, everyone, we can’t risk Jay coming back right now.”

They scatter in a burst of multicolored lightning.

Barry examines the door to Caitlin’s cell and then grabs the lock. Vibrating his hands at the right frequency shears the metal apart. Caitlin climbs out of the cell.

That’s when Jay comes rushing in. He pauses at the other end of the chamber. “Barry?” At first, he seems totally baffled, but he quickly recovers and all traces of humor drop from his expression. “I took your speed once…”

“You didn’t do a great job,” Barry says.

Before they can exchange any more witty repartee, Barry picks up Caitlin and races past him. The tachyon device hums on his chest, and he can feel it increasing his speed, making him faster than Zoom could ever be.

“Wally, where are you?” he shouts over the wind rushing past him into the comms.

“Bottom of the cliff, south edge,” Wally replies.

Barry locates him and Jesse, waiting together, and sets Caitlin down for a moment, glancing over his shoulder. “Hurry.”

Wally doesn’t bother with explanation, just grips Caitlin by the shoulder and transfers speed force into her. Jesse attaches a tachyon enhancer to her chest and gives her an earpiece.

“Welcome to the Speed Squad,” Cisco says to Caitlin. “Now run!”

Zoom’s right behind them, and everyone runs. Barry stays by Caitlin’s side, helping her through her first superspeed steps.

“This is cool!” she yells to Barry. Her lightning is changing from white to a shiny silver.  

“I know!” He grins.

They’re on Earth-2, running from a speed-obsessed lunatic and traitor, and yet Barry hasn’t felt this exhilarated in months.

He’s got his speed back, some of his best friends are experiencing superspeed for the first time, and they’ve just rescued Caitlin.

Sure, they’re running away.

But right now, in Barry’s mind, they’re winning.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done. I can close out of the Arrowverse wiki, the Flash scripts site, my three Wikipedia tabs, and my Google Images references now, right?
> 
> Enjoy.

Barry and Caitlin, along with Wally and Jesse, race around the back side of the cliff and meet up with Cisco and Wells.

Caitlin again reacts to the yellow suit. She whispers to Barry, “Are you sure he’s…”

“I can hear you,” Wells says, a little irritated, through the earpiece. “I hate it just as much as you do. Come on, we have to run.”

“Are we chasing Zoom, or is he chasing us?” Cisco asks. “Because I think we need to figure this out right now.”

“Just _run_!” Wells says, and they take off.

Jay skids to a stop behind them, staring around at the six speedsters racing off in different directions.

He goes after Barry.

Fortunately, Barry is a lot faster than him, with his speed and the tachyon device. So Barry outruns him, leading him away from the city. All of them have agreed it’s a good idea to keep Jay out of Central City, or he could threaten its inhabitants to get them to stop.

They run.

Finally, Zoom quits chasing Barry, probably realizing it’s a doomed cause, and goes after the next speedster he sees, who happens to be Cisco.

Cisco, without the practice that Barry and even Wally have had, isn’t quite as fast as Zoom. He’s quickly overtaken.

He stabs Zoom with one of the darts that they’ve brought along, the darts that stopped him before.

Jay just laughs.

There’s no effect. Cisco has no idea why, but the darts don’t work.

Suddenly, his plan doesn’t seem that brilliant.

But he does know one thing—Jay’s not going to kill him. Not when Cisco has speed and Jay doesn’t understand how.

So instead, Cisco quickly finds himself back in Zoom’s lair, in the speedster cell. “Guys, I’m in his lair, and the darts don’t work.”

“The darts don’t work?” five distinct voices respond, overlapping.

“Nope. Someone come help me?” Cisco tries to phase through the wall, but finds himself unable to do so—not only because he doesn’t actually know how to phase, but also because he’s run out of speed.

Maybe he can do what Reverb did. He holds out a hand and focuses, remembering what it felt like when he opened the breaches. He can feel the vibes building up in his bones, jarring their way down his arms.

Some sort of blast exits his hands and pulses through the air. There’s an audible _bang_ when it hits the clear wall.

The wall appears to vibrate for a moment, but nothing changes. Cisco tries again, to the same effect.

So he waits, trusting that his friends will come break him out.

It doesn’t even take a full minute before Wally and Jesse zip in.

“Stand back,” Wally says.

Cisco does, and Wally phases into the cell.

When he does, the wall, like the vines, explodes, and they both go flying. Cisco hits the stone behind him and groans, rubbing his head.

Once Wally gives him a boost of speed force, though, Cisco acquires the quick healing Barry has and is on his feet again in an instant.

Meanwhile, Jay has shifted targets to Wells. He seems to be ignoring Caitlin, though she’s the slowest of all of them due to her lack of practice and her heels.

Wells isn’t as fast as Zolomon, but he also has an advantage in that he’s wearing a mask that Zoom recognizes. When he’s inevitably cornered outside a warehouse at the edge of Central City, Jay stops a few yards away from him.

“I thought you were dead, Reverse Flash.”

Wells, in a why-not sort of mood, vibrates his voice to sound like Eobard Thawne. After all, the longer he can keep Zolomon confused, the better chance Jesse has. “The Flash can only have one nemesis, Zoom.”

“No,” Jay realizes. “You’re just Harrison Wells.” His tone shifts to intense fury. “How did you access the speed force?”

Wells shifts position in preparation, tensing his muscles. “I’ll tell you when you catch me.” He pauses. “ _Flash._ ”

Then he runs.

Zoom pursues.

He chases Wells into the forest. Again, Wells finds himself not fast enough, but this time, before Zolomon catches up, Barry and Wally intercept him in a blur of red and blue. Barry hits Jay with a punch that sends him sprawling at superspeed across the forest floor.

Snarling, Jay gets to his feet and races after Barry and whoever the other one is, ignoring Wells’s escape.

When the two of them inevitably split, Jay goes after Barry rather than the blue streak.

Barry glances over his shoulder and sees Zoom in pursuit. He speeds up, trying to think just as fast as he’s running. Without the darts, he has no idea what they’re going to do—as usual, they don’t have a Plan B.

He glimpses a few bursts of lightning through the trees, multiple colors: orange, green, and silver. Jesse, Cisco, and Caitlin.

“Guys, run, Zoom’s right behind me!” Barry shouts to them.

They split up, tearing through the forest at top speed. Barry stops and watches Zoom curve away from him and start chasing one of the blurs in the distance.

“He’s after me,” Jesse says through the comms.

She sounds calm, but both her father and Wally reply, “On my way!”

“I’m out of speed force,” Caitlin reports.

“I’ll help you, Caitlin.” Barry checks her location on his wrist and then runs to help her.

Cisco joins the two of them. “Come on, let’s make sure the others are okay.”

They start after the other dots on the map, Barry carrying Caitlin.

They’re all headed for the same place: Zoom’s lair.

Barry feels an intense sense of foreboding, one he’s learned to trust in his time as the Flash.

Everything is about to go down.

* * *

Jesse skids to a stop at the edge of the cliff. Wally, in an effort to distract Jay, continues up the side of it. He hopes that the mystery of who this blue and white speedster is will enthrall him away from Jesse.

Good news, it works.

Bad news, all the running and recharging is exhausting.

He’s slowing down.

Zoom’s lair is much more frightening when he’s alone in it—just him and that masked man, who’s again tapping on the glass. Freaky as ever. He pushes away the memories of his imprisonment.

And, of course, he’s not alone for long. Jay zooms in behind him.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“I go by Taillights,” Wally says, and then races toward Zoom.

Zoom dodges neatly. He catches Wally by the arm and throws him into the wall.

Wally groans and gets to his feet, ducking under Jay’s next blow. They spar for a moment, matching each other’s speed, blurring into incomprehensible masses of color.

But Jay is much more experienced than Wally, and he’s gaining the upper hand. Wally again is thrown into the wall.

Then Jesse runs in. She trips Zoom and crouches beside Wally. “Fill me up.”

Wally does so, struggling to his feet.

“Fill you up?” Jay asks, looking back and forth between Jesse and Wally.

“He’s realized,” Jesse mutters to Wally, frantic. “You have to run. If he gets you it’s all over. I’ll hold him here.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Wally says. He glances past Jesse.

Jay, weirdly, is ignoring them for now. Instead, he phases into the masked man’s cell.

Jesse turns to see what Wally’s looking at, so they’re both watching when Zoom kills him.

“Let’s go. Now,” Wally says.

They both head for the door, Jesse a few steps behind Wally.

Zoom leaves the cell and darts in between the two of them. He throws a hand out to stop Jesse.

The impact when she runs into him crushes her tachyon enhancer and throws her backwards. She screams.

Immediately, Wells enters the lair, coming up behind Zoom and hitting him across the head with a bent metal rod. He crumples to the ground.

Wells rushes to Jesse’s side and immediately takes off her broken tachyon device, replacing it with his own. “Run, Jesse.”

Jesse gets to her feet, gives her dad a frantic look, and then speeds out of the room.

Finally someone listens to him.

But Wells is now alone, with a little speed force but no tachyon enhancement, in the lair of a metahuman serial killer.

And said metahuman serial killer is getting to his feet.

* * *

Jesse reaches the others where they’ve gathered in the forest, just a few seconds’ run from the cliffs.

“Dad’s in danger,” she says. “Wally can’t go.”

“I can go,” Wally says.

“You can’t,” Jesse insists.

Barry nods. “You’re going to overuse your speed and Jay will catch you. Don’t do it. I’ll go.”

“Me too,” Cisco says. “As long as you two can keep Caitlin safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” Caitlin assures them. “Hurry.”

“We’re on our way, Harry,” Cisco calls into the comms.

Barry and Cisco take off, running as fast as they can to save the man in the yellow suit.

Fate can be immensely ironic.

The moment they’re gone, Caitlin turns to Wally and Jesse. “Give me more speed. I’ll need to talk to Jay.”

* * *

“Tell me about the kid. Taillights.” Zolomon’s tone is so casually conversational that it scares Wells more than his Zoom growl would. “How does he do it? Who is he?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Garrick.” Wells tries to streak around him, but Zoom blocks his path again and again, rebuffing his escape attempts.

He’s not fast enough.

Zolomon throws him to the floor, and, out of speed force, Wells can’t get back to his feet before Zoom is leaning over him, hand vibrating menacingly.

“You know, I did this once before.” Zolomon laughs, and the sound is awful. “Reached into your chest. That time it was to save you.”

He lowers his hand, pausing an inch from Wells’s chest.

“This time, it won’t be for such a noble cause.”

All Wells hopes is that his daughter is safe.

Then Zoom is thrown off him, and this time not by a speedster tackling him—instead, it’s an odd pulsing, visible only as a warping in the air, that hits the side of Zoom’s head with all the force of the vibrations of the multiverse.

Cisco lowers his hands. Barry zips over and starts pounding on Jay while he’s still recovering from Cisco’s vibe blast. Cisco pulls Wells to his feet and they retreat to the edge of the room, away from the two fighting speedsters.

After a moment, Barry lets up on Jay, moving a few steps away.

Zoom is breathing heavily. “You’ve got some allies, Flash,” he growls. “But you know I’ll beat you all anyway.”

Caitlin’s voice rings loud and true from the entrance. “No, you won’t.”

Everyone looks at her.

“You were never as good as Barry, Jay. No matter how much speed you consume, Wells was right.”

Zoom runs at her, but Caitlin now can match his speed and she deftly avoids him.

“You’re a coward.”

Another dodge with an assist from Barry. Caitlin has now effectively switched places with Zoom, placing him near the entrance instead of her.

“And you’ve never been a hero.”

That’s enough that Jay freezes in place. The shock may have only lasted a moment, he may have recovered and run too fast for them to stop—

But a crushing ripple of sound waves radiates out from beyond the entrance. Everyone in the chamber winces, but Zoom lets out a piercing scream and collapses, clutching his head, unconscious.

Finally.

Wally and Jesse step into Zoom’s lair. Between them walks in a familiar face, wearing a pair of black gloves, a few jolts of purple lightning flashing around him.

Hartley.

All seven quasi-speedsters stare down at their fallen opponent.

They’ve fought their battle versus Zoom.

And they've _won_.

* * *

There’s a certain commotion that lingers in the Cortex after a victory.

It’s the congratulations and gratitude, the explanations and loose ends, the simple rejoicing at the end of another long and difficult tribulation.

Congratulations pass from each of the team members to each of the others, including Hartley and Joe and Iris.

Wells thanks Cisco. Cisco thanks Caitlin. Caitlin thanks Barry. Barry thanks Hartley.

They all thank Wally.

Caitlin talks about her experiences in Jay’s prison.

Iris elaborates on how she thought of sending Hartley through to help.

Jesse explains how she and Wally met Hartley in the forest and had a tense standoff before everyone comprehended who the others were.

Wells tests the formula in the darts out of curiosity and finds the original ingredients have devolved, negating any effectiveness it once had.

Wally figures out how to not only give speed but also take it, still with Jesse’s assistance. He reclaims Barry’s speed from Jay and restores it, hopefully permanently.

Everyone takes a moment to mourn for the man they never knew, the one in the iron mask.

They lock Jay in the pipeline.

And then they celebrate.

There’s a certain commotion that lingers after a victory.

The pure, joyous exhilaration of an ending, of success, of all of them being superheroes for a day and _winning_ —

This is what it feels like after Zoom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drops mic*
> 
> Thanks so much to all my readers, hope you enjoyed, I'd love a comment if you did, now off to watch the surely-not-as-awesome-as-my-fic new episode.


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